Matthew Jones
New member
I love smoked salmon and do it from the beginning of summer through mid December. I have tried a number of way to prep the salmon but keep coming back to this old stand by.
(This works best with fresh, not frozen salmon but use what you have.)
I take rock salt, pickling salt, or kosher salt, and brown sugar. Use a non-metallic container and start by laying down a healthy dose of salt, then the fish, skin side down. Next a layer of salt then brown sugar and repeat until you lay your last layer. (The amount of salt you use depends on the coarseness of the salt. I don't bury the fish in salt but a light covering.) I tend to throw more brown sugar on just to make sure. As soon as your done you will notice the fish starting to juice, this will form a brine. and by the time you are ready to remove the fish, the container will be full of juice.
Cover the container with cling wrap and set on your counter or in the garage for a minimum of 12 hours, I go more like 18 or so depending on the thickness of the fillets. If your house or garage is to hot you can place in the fridge. When your time is up, remove from the container and rise well under cool running water to remove all excess salt and sugar. Pat dry with paper towels and place on cooling racks for a couple of hours. This allows the pectin to form. Then throw it on your smoker with alder wood and you'll have Northwest smoked salmon. I have done hundreds of pounds of salmon this way and everyone I know likes it, some people might find it to salty but they tend to not rise it well enough before smoking. If you have any questions drop me a note.
Hope this helps
Matthew Jones
(This works best with fresh, not frozen salmon but use what you have.)
I take rock salt, pickling salt, or kosher salt, and brown sugar. Use a non-metallic container and start by laying down a healthy dose of salt, then the fish, skin side down. Next a layer of salt then brown sugar and repeat until you lay your last layer. (The amount of salt you use depends on the coarseness of the salt. I don't bury the fish in salt but a light covering.) I tend to throw more brown sugar on just to make sure. As soon as your done you will notice the fish starting to juice, this will form a brine. and by the time you are ready to remove the fish, the container will be full of juice.
Cover the container with cling wrap and set on your counter or in the garage for a minimum of 12 hours, I go more like 18 or so depending on the thickness of the fillets. If your house or garage is to hot you can place in the fridge. When your time is up, remove from the container and rise well under cool running water to remove all excess salt and sugar. Pat dry with paper towels and place on cooling racks for a couple of hours. This allows the pectin to form. Then throw it on your smoker with alder wood and you'll have Northwest smoked salmon. I have done hundreds of pounds of salmon this way and everyone I know likes it, some people might find it to salty but they tend to not rise it well enough before smoking. If you have any questions drop me a note.
Hope this helps
Matthew Jones